Global trade depends on container ship freight, and it is more vulnerable than we might think. Recent events such as COVID-19 and the obstruction of the Suez Canal have demonstrated how easily shipping can be disrupted. Fires on container ships pose another risk, and as cargo ships grow in size the impact of incidents grows as well, exposing the shipping industry to greater losses of both assets and human lives. However, international regulation and general safety strategies for this industry have not kept up with this development.
CARGOSAFE is a study commissioned by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to investigate cost-efficient technical solutions that effectively mitigate the risk of fires on container ships. The study is one of the actions put forward by EMSA to implement its 5-year strategy approved by its Administrative Board (formed by representatives of all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and the European Commission) which identified container ships as one of the safety concerns to be addressed. The recommendations from the study are expected to contribute to the ongoing work of the technical bodies within the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The study is carried out by a consortium with DBI in the lead, and Research Institute of Sweden (RISE), Syddansk University (SDU), Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) and the international classification society Bureau Veritas as partners.
The consortium will examine the safety of various container ship types in four steps: hazard identification, technical analysis of existing detection- and extinguishing solutions, analysis of economic costs of the various solutions identified, and development of recommendations for EMSA based on these findings.
The CARGOSAFE project was initiated in December 2021 and will run for 60 weeks.
Podcast:
Containership fires are one of the most significant hazards affecting the shipping industry. In this podcast, the important issue is discussed by Anders Kristensen, Project Manager for the CARGOSAFE Study at DBI, Lorena Cifuentes, Research Consultant at DBI, and Uwe-Peter Schaefer, Vice Chair of IUMI's Loss Prevention Committee. The main objective of the discussion is the learnings from the DBI CARGOSAFE study and the developments in fire safety technology.
